Justice Department confirms criminal antitrust investigation into major meatpackers
Updated
Updated · Fox Business · May 4
Justice Department confirms criminal antitrust investigation into major meatpackers
12 articles · Updated · Fox Business · May 4
Officials said investigators have reviewed more than 3 million documents as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urged ranchers and others to report possible price-fixing and bid-rigging.
The DOJ said the four biggest beef processors control more than 85% of US processing, while civil and criminal inquiries may proceed in parallel without a timetable for charges.
The probe comes as cattle inventories fell to 86.2 million head, the lowest since the 1950s, and officials linked tight supply, industry concentration and foreign ownership to high beef prices.
Could Washington's plan to break up the 'big four' meatpackers actually make grocery store beef prices even higher?
Can new AI farming technology rebuild America's shrinking cattle herd faster than government investigations can fix the market?